The tool was born out of my former MOCLogin troubleshooting tool, but I decided to rename it because of the expanded features and all [...]]]> I haven’t done a blog entry for awhile on InsideOCS because I have spent a lot of my extra time developing a small free tool called: The Remote UC Troubleshooting Tool (RUCT).

The tool was born out of my former MOCLogin troubleshooting tool, but I decided to rename it because of the expanded features and all the great things it can do besides just troubleshoot DNS entries with Communicator and Lync client automatic sign-in.

I’ll go on record as saying that I think this is one of the best tools available for troubleshooting Lync and Communicator certificate issues!

A full description of RUCT is available here, and the tool can be downloaded here.

Here is a summary of what the tool can do:

1.    Easily Query Important DNS Records used by Microsoft Lync Server and OCS.

DNS queries for the following Lync and OCS records are issued with one-click:

• All Lync and Communicator internal and external records used for automatic sign-in.
• Lync sign-in records used for Lync Online (in Office 365).
• Lync simple URL records used for Dial-In, Meetings, and Administration.
• Home registrar location records used by Lync devices.
• The automatic partner discovery record used in an Open Federation configuration.

2.    Test Network Availability.

• Easily test the network connectivity to the hostname and port belonging to any matching DNS SRV record, or IP address belonging to an A record.
• A TCP connection is attempted for hostnames and ports, and a ping is attempted for IP addresses.

3.    Certificate Retrieval, Installation, and Export.

• The tool can remotely retrieve X509 Certificate information on any Lync or OCS port that is secured using TLS (or SSL).  Certificate information returned includes the Common Name (CN), Subject Name, Issuer, Certificate Authority, Expiry Date, Creation Date, and Subject Alternative Names (SANs), and the complete certificate chain.
• The remote certificate can also be installed locally or exported to a file. This makes client access to labs and self-signed certificates much easier to setup.

4.    Easily Retrieve Important Client-Side Troubleshooting Information.

• Important client-side environment settings such as O/S version, 32-bit or 64-bit, current domain credentials, and Lync/Communicator sign-on settings are automatically retrieved and consolidated in one place.
• Recent Lync and Communicator specific event log errors and warnings can be retrieved with one-click.

Screenshots

DNS Information

Certificate Functionality

Client Troubleshooting

I hope this tool is a big help to people troubleshooting Lync Server and OCS issues.  Feel free to provide any feedback.

If you have never used them before, the Microsoft OCS TechNet Forums are a great resource for asking questions and resolving problems. As of last [...]]]> There have recently been several noteworthy changes to the Microsoft TechNet OCS and UC resources available on TechNet.  Here is a summary of the changes:

1) The OCS TechNet Forums have Moved

If you have never used them before, the Microsoft OCS TechNet Forums are a great resource for asking questions and resolving problems. As of last week (Nov 9, 2009) Microsoft moved and re-organized the OCS community discussion forms. One major drawback to this is that the old content could not be moved into the new forums.

The old Office Communications Server TechNet Forums can be located here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/ocs and are now locked down (no new posts), but you can still search and read the old content.

The new Office Communications Server TechNet Forums is located here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/ocs.

Jeff Schertz has a good article detailing the re-organization of categories if you want more detail.

2) New OCS Troubleshooting and UC Update Resource Center Pages

The Microsoft Office Communications Server Team have released several two new OCS web resource portals in the last month.  Here is a summary:

a) Office Communications Server and Client Troubleshooting and Support Page

This is a round-up of resources available for solving problems:

1. An embedded Knowledge Base search – surprisingly not customized for OCS or Communicator.
2. Links to the OCS forums.
3. Contact information for Microsoft support.

b) Updates Resource Center for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Clients

A web page detailing the most recent updates (information and links to the actual update) for OCS and the UC Clients (Communicator, Live Meeting, etc…).

3) The ‘Next Hop’

Recently announced at PDC, there is a new TechNet resource portal called NextHop which is designed to offer helpful hints and information on OCS.

This has been picked up by a few blogs recently. It is such a good offer, I thought I would get the word out also.

I can vouch for the OCS 2007 R2 Resource Kit being an excellent resource, and for a [...]]]> Aug 18, 2011 Update: this offer has expired and the books are not available anymore.

This has been picked up by a few blogs recently. It is such a good offer, I thought I would get the word out also.

I can vouch for the OCS 2007 R2 Resource Kit being an excellent resource, and for a limited time you can get a free digital copy of it and “Programming for Unified Communications” from Microsoft Press.

Click the appropriate book below to link to the MS Press site where you can register and get your free E-Book.